In January 2022, a harsh and freezing blizzard swept across northern Minnesota near the United States-Canada border, with a wind chill of -36 degrees.
Despite the frigid conditions, two men smuggled a family of four across the border, including two children aged 11 and three, and abandoned them to die. Smugglers Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, and Steve Anthony Shand, 50, are now on their way to prison.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, a federal judge on Wednesday sentenced Patel to 10 years and one month in prison and Shand to 6 1/2 years.
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According to prosecutors, Patel and Shand were part of a “international human smuggling conspiracy” that obtained Canadian student visas for Indian citizens for a fee of $100,000. Patel would smuggle the people out of Manitoba, Canada, and Shand would drive them to Chicago once they arrived on the American side of the border.
That was supposed to be the plan for Jagdish and Vaishaliben Patel and their two children, Vihangi (11), and Dharmik (3). However, on January 18, 2022, Shand sent Harshkumar Patel (no relation to the victims) a screenshot of a forecast for the upcoming storm, which was expected to bring 50 mph gusts and wind chills of up to -50.
Despite the warnings, Patel smuggled the family and seven others across the border on foot, intending to meet with Shand. In the early hours of January 19, 2022, a US Border Patrol agent discovered Shand’s van stuck in the snow. He was accompanied by two undocumented immigrants in the van.
Shand claimed there was no one else in the area, but agents discovered five more people in nearby fields, including one suffering from hypothermia, with a body temperature of less than 90 degrees. Later that day, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police discovered the Patel family dead on the Canadian side of the border.
“The boy was wrapped in a blanket with his father’s frozen glove covering his face,” investigators said.
In November, a federal jury found the suspects guilty of numerous illegal immigration and smuggling charges.
“Every time I think about this case, I think about this family—including two beautiful little children—who the defendants left to freeze to death in a blizzard,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick for the District of Minnesota. “As we’ve seen time and time again, human traffickers care nothing for humanity.”
According to a courtroom report from The Associated Press, Patel’s defense attorney claimed his client was a “low man on the totem pole” and requested 18 months in prison.
However, his argument failed to persuade U.S. District Judge John Tunheim.
“The crime in many respects is extraordinary because it did result in the unimaginable death of four individuals, including two children,” said Tunheim, according to reports. “These were deaths that were clearly avoidable.”